The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) held its 46th annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, February 28 to March 3, 2015. The meeting, held at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa, drew record attendance of 1109 total attendees including 654 paid registrants (also a record), 285 international members, and 138 students. The participants represented 23 countries, with 25% of attendees from outside the United States. Total attendance included 240 allied industry representatives from 84 exhibitors, manning a record 85 technical tables. The students in attendance represented 28 veterinary schools!

The meeting participants attended numerous educational sessions, including 11 pre-conference workshops, two general sessions, three break-out sessions, research topics, industrial partner sessions, 15 student seminar presentations, and 72 posters.

Dr Greg Stevenson opened the Monday General Session with the Howard Dunne Memorial Lecture. His presentation, entitled “Because it’s the right thing to do” reminded the audience of the importance of maintaining your integrity and making sure you “like who you see in the mirror.” He concluded by saying, “There is much at stake for each of us as individuals, for our profession, and for our organization. Choose integrity, because it is the right thing to do.”

Dr Scanlon Daniels presented the Alex Hogg Memorial Lecture entitled “Influence and advocacy: Opportunities for swine veterinarians.” He challenged the attendees to consider how swine veterinarians can re-establish their relationship with society. The answer, he noted, “is balancing facts with values.”

The second half of the Monday morning session focused on porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, coronavirus immunity, and clinical presentation. The Tuesday General Session addressed the issues associated with the introduction of transboundary and foreign animal diseases. All of the General Session presentations on Monday and Tuesday were video recorded and will be posted in the video library of the AASV Web site in the near future.

The AASV Awards Reception was held Monday night, followed by the AASV Foundation’s annual fund-raising auction. Dr Randy Jones, 2011 AASV President and chair of the 2015 Awards Selection Committee, presented the recipients of the Howard Dunne Memorial Award (Dr Butch Baker), the Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year Award (Dr Kerry Keffaber), the Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year Award (Dr Megan Inskeep), the Meritorious Service Award (Dr Howard Hill), and the award for Swine Practitioner of the Year (Dr Larry Coleman).

In addition, 15 AASV committees met during the annual meeting. The 2015 officers, Drs Ron Brodersen, President; George Charbonneau, President-elect; Alex Ramirez, Vice President; and Michelle Sprague, Past President, were introduced during the Annual Business Meeting on Tuesday morning. The board also welcomed incoming representatives: District 1, Dr Lynette Holman (re-elected) and District 7, Dr Scanlon Daniels.

If you would like to provide feedback on this year’s meeting or suggestions for future meetings, please complete the short online survey at http://fluidsurveys.com/s/AASV2015. The 2016 annual meeting will be held February 27 to March 1 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Swine Practitioner of the Year

Dr Larry Coleman was named 2015 Swine Practitioner of the Year by the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV). The award is given to the swine practitioner who has demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of veterinary service to clients.

Dr Coleman obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Missouri Veterinary College in 1980. Following graduation, he accepted a position at a mixed food-animal practice in Broken Bow, Nebraska. In 1986, Dr Coleman left Broken Bow to spend a year at the North Carolina State University working with swine integrators in that state. He returned to Broken Bow in 1987 and opened his own food-animal practice, where he remains to this day, having been joined by Dr Russ Rice and Dr Clayton Smith. Dr Coleman’s personal veterinary-medicine passion is the “art and science” of getting employees to emotionally engage when they are taking care of animals.

Dr Coleman joined AASV in 1984 and has served on various AASV committees since that time.

Asked to comment about receiving this award, Dr Coleman replied, “I am very honoured to have received the Swine Practitioner of the Year Award. My involvement with the AASV and its members has been a great aid in the development of my professional skills, as well as establishing many valuable business and personal friendships.”

Dr Coleman is married to Renea Coleman and they reside in Broken Bow, Nebraska. They have two grown daughters: Kinsi, who is a high school teacher in Alma, Nebraska, and Kia, who is a second-year student at Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska, with plans to become a veterinarian.

Howard Dunne Memorial Award

Dr Rodney “Butch” Baker received the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) 2015 Howard Dunne Memorial Award during the association’s 46th annual meeting March 2 in Orlando, Florida. The award recognizes an AASV member who has made important contributions and provided outstanding service to the association and the swine industry.

Dr Baker was raised on a small, diversified farm in Owensboro, Kentucky, where he gained an early appreciation for farm life, livestock, and veterinary medicine. He received his DVM from the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1978 and earned a master’s degree in veterinary diagnostics and production-animal medicine from Iowa State University (ISU) in 1999.

Dr Baker joined ISU in 2006 as a senior clinician in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Previously, Baker served as partner in a multi-veterinarian multi-location practice primarily involved in food-animal practice. He served as an Area Veterinary Consultant for the Pig Improvement Company (PIC) and numerous other producers during the transformation of the US pork industry to the modern structure of today. After leaving practice he worked for Bayer Animal Health, PIC, Premium Standard Farms, and North Carolina State University. Dr Baker also recently served as the interim director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center at ISU. He is part owner of a 2400-sow breed-to-wean farm in Georgia and another farm in Kentucky that is dedicated to sow well-being research and leased to Cargill Meat Solutions.

Dr Baker became a member of AASV in 1978 and was president of the association in 2009. He has served on numerous AASV issue-based committees and AASV program planning committees, as well as the AASV Foundation Auction Committee and AASV Foundation Board. He is also an AASV Foundation Heritage Fellow. In 2012, he was honored as the Agriculture Alumnus of the Year by Western Kentucky University’s Ogden College of Science and Technology. He was recognized as a Master of the Pork Industry by National Hog Farmer magazine in 2013, and received the Honorary Master Pork Producer plaque at the 43rd annual Iowa Pork Congress on February 1, 2015.

When asked what it meant to him to receive the Howard Dunne Memorial Award he responded, “I am truly honored and humbled by this unexpected surprise. It is certainly the most appreciated recognition of my long career. I thank the AASV awards committee for choosing me as the recipient.”

Butch and his wife, Emma, currently reside in Ames, Iowa. They have three children (Brad, Amy, and Will) and three grandchildren (Marissa, Paige, and Reith).

Meritorious Service Award

Dr Howard Hill was named the 2015 recipient of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Meritorious Service Award. The award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to the AASV.

A native of southern California, Dr Hill earned his DVM degree from the University of California-Davis in 1969. Hill spent a year in private practice in Vista, California, before deciding to pursue his master’s degree (1972) and PhD (1974) in veterinary microbiology from Iowa State University.

Dr Hill retired as the director of animal well-being for Iowa Select Farms at the end of 2012, but has been retained as an advisor with a focus on animal well-being. Hill began his career with Iowa Select Farms in 2000, when he joined the company as director of production. In 2001, he was promoted to chief operating officer and continued in that role until 2009.

Hill served as director of veterinary services and multiplication for Murphy Family Farms (1994-2000) in Rose Hill, North Carolina. Previously, Hill served as head of veterinary microbiology in the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (1974-1994).

Dr Hill joined AASV in 1979. He has served on AASV program planning committees and as AASV president in 1996. In addition, he received the Howard Dunne Memorial Award in 1992 and is an AASV Foundation Leman Fellow. He received Iowa State University’s Science with Practice Award in 2011. Hill was one of nine veterinarians appointed to serve on the US Department of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health (2011-2013). He is a member of the Story County Pork Producers and serves on the board of directors of the Iowa Pork Producers Association. He is the immediate past president of the National Pork Producers Council.

When asked to comment about receiving the award, Hill responded, “I am very honored and humbled to receive this award from the AASV. We all belong to several organizations, but I have always felt like the AASV has been my “home organization.” There is no other professional organization that does more for its members and future members (students) than AASV. It is an organization of members helping members. The strength of the organization has been the leadership of those members who have given freely of their time and the guidance from an excellent staff. Thank you AASV for this award.”

Dr Hill and his wife, Nancy, reside in Cambridge, Iowa. They have three children (Allison, Eric, and Jared) and 10 grandchildren. Their livestock business includes hogs and cattle. Hill and his son also farm 2600 acres of corn, soybeans, and alfalfa.

Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year Award

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year Award was presented to Dr Megan Inskeep during the 46th annual meeting of the AASV in Orlando, Florida. It is given annually to an AASV member 5 or fewer years post graduation who has demonstrated the ideals of exemplary service and proficiency early in his or her career.

Dr Inskeep grew up in Wilson, North Carolina, where her parents, Gene and Susan Nemechek, still reside. Exposure to farm life came at a very early age for Dr Inskeep. She developed an interest in animals beginning on her grandparents’ dairy farm, visiting pig farms with her veterinarian dad, and working in a small-animal clinic during high school. These experiences sparked her interest in becoming a veterinarian. She worked two summers on sow farms gaining experience in farrowing and gestation barns.

Majoring in animal science as an undergraduate at North Carolina State University (NCSU), she was active in numerous clubs and organizations. She was among the first class of Food Animal Scholars accepted into the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine. She earned her DVM in 2010. She participated in the National Pork Board’s Operation Main Street as a student presenter and continues to participate as a practitioner. To date, she has given more than 30 presentations to civics groups and high schools in her area.

She was active all 4 years in the swine club and the bovine club at the veterinary school. She served as president of the swine club her junior year, organizing “pig pickin’” lunch fund raisers and program speakers for the club meetings. She says that she will never forget the generosity of the veterinarians and their families and the lifelong friendships she made during numerous veterinary internships at swine practices throughout the Midwest. She continues that spirit of generosity by hosting numerous veterinary students and offering them the opportunity to experience swine veterinary practice and the modern swine industry. She received the Swine Proficiency Award at the conclusion of her senior year of veterinary school.

“I am very honored to receive this award, and feel very fortunate to be a part of such a remarkable organization and industry. I can’t begin to give enough thanks to my family and mentors over the years for their support, and hope that I can give back as much as they have given to me,” commented Dr Inskeep.

Currently, she is a veterinarian at Rensselaer Swine Services with Dr Tom Gillespie. She also works with Dr Chuck Hannon and Donor Solutions, Inc, specializing in cattle donor and reproductive services. She lives in Rensselaer, Indiana, with her husband Bryan Inskeep, and they are expecting their first child in August.

Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year Award

Dr Kerry Keffaber received the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year Award. Established in 2008, the award recognizes swine industry veterinarians who have demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency and effectiveness in delivery of veterinary service to their companies and their clients, as well as given tirelessly in service to the AASV and the swine industry.

Dr Keffaber was recognized for his years in technical service at Elanco Animal Health. Since joining Elanco in 2002 as a Swine Technical Services Consultant, he has served numerous roles including Director of Technical Consulting in the Swine Business Unit and Director of Swine Innovation. His current title is Advisor Scientific Affairs & Policy. In this role, he leads global and US efforts to help others in regulatory, government, and the food-supply chain stay informed and establish policy on current global animal health, scientific research, and food-safety topics. In addition, he participated in the first Elanco-sponsored study tour to Cameroon, Africa, with Heifer International with a group of swine practitioners.

Dr Keffaber received his BS and DVM (1981) from Purdue University. Following graduation, Dr Keffaber joined the Manchester Veterinary Clinic where he focused on large animals and swine. In 1987, he founded the Swine Health Center in Roann, Indiana, where he practiced until joining Elanco Animal Health. Dr Duane Long continued the practice.

Active in the AASV since 1981, Dr Keffaber served as a district director for two terms and as president of the association in 2008. In addition, he has chaired the AASV PRRS subcommittee and participated on several planning committees for the association’s annual program. He was also a graduate of the inaugural Executive Veterinary Program in Swine Health Management class at the University of Illinois.

When asked to comment on what the award meant to him, Dr Keffaber said, “AASV is filled with quality people that are excellent scientists and great examples of leadership and integrity; to be recognized with this honor is humbling and quite a nice surprise and serves as a challenge to continue to work to help animals and people.”

Dr Keffaber and his wife, Betsy, reside in Fishers, Indiana. They have three children (Brad, Megan, and Abbey) and four grandchildren, with another on the way.

AASV Foundation announces student scholarships

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Foundation awarded scholarships totaling $25,000 to 15 veterinary students during the 46th AASV Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Joseph Thomas, Iowa State University, received the $5000 scholarship for top student presentation. His presentation was titled “Effect of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus infectious doses on outcome of infection in naive neonatal piglets and weaned pigs.” Zoetis provided the financial support for the top student presenter award.

Additional scholarships totaling $20,000 were funded by Elanco Animal Health. Four veterinary student presenters received $2500 scholarships: Brianna Peters, University of Tennessee; Christopher Sievers, Iowa State University; Alyssa Taplett, Iowa State University; and Kathleen Wood, North Carolina State University.

Five veterinary student presenters received $1500 scholarships: Hunter Baldry, University of Minnesota; Brigitte Mason, University of Illinois; Jacqueline Myers, Iowa State University; Scott Radke, Iowa State University; and Ryan Tenbergen, University of Guelph.

Student presenters receiving $500 scholarships were Colleen Crozier, North Carolina State University; Amanda Harris, Iowa State University; Alexandra John, University of Pennsylvania; Emily Renner, University of Minnesota; and Quinn Robinson, Iowa State University.

Sixty-one veterinary students from 16 universities submitted abstracts for consideration. From those submissions, 15 students were selected to present during the annual meeting. Zoetis, sponsor of the Student Seminar, provided a $750 travel stipend to each student selected to participate.

A panel of judges selected the recipients on the basis of communications skills in writing the abstract and the presentation of the case report and on applicability of the research to swine medicine.

AASV announces Veterinary Student Poster Competition awardees

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) provided an opportunity for 15 veterinary students to compete for awards in the Veterinary Student Poster Competition at the association’s 46th annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Newport Laboratories sponsored the competition, offering awards totaling $4000.

On the basis of scores received in the original judging of abstracts submitted for the AASV Student Seminar, the top 15 abstracts not selected for oral presentation at the annual meeting are eligible to compete in the poster competition.

Newport Laboratories announced the following awards during the AASV Luncheon on March 2:

$500 scholarship: Donna Drebes, University of Minnesota, top student poster entitled “The effect of translactational antibodies on preweaning mortality in a porcine epidemic diarrhea virus exposed herd;”

$400 scholarships: Tyler Te Grotenhuis, Iowa State University; Joseph Yaros, Cornell University;

$300 scholarships: Bernadetta Bernatowicz, University of Pennsylvania; Dan Breuer, Iowa State University; Joel Sparks, Iowa State University;

$200 scholarships: Stephanie Derbawka, University of Saskatchewan; Taylor Engle, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine; Danielle Evenson, Iowa State University; Daniel Gascho, Purdue University; Cassy Griebel, University of Minnesota; Amanda Jara, University of Georgia; Erin Jobman, Kansas State University; Kayla Ohrt, Iowa State University; Chelsea Onken, Iowa State University.

In addition to the poster competition awards, each student poster participant received a $250 travel stipend from Zoetis and the AASV.

Annual Business Breakfast

American Association of Swine Veterinarians President Dr Michelle Sprague reported on the association’s membership and activities during the annual breakfast on Tuesday, March 3. She stated that there were 1741 members, including 329 student members. Dr Sprague thanked outgoing director Dr Bill DuBois (District 7) and Amy Daniels, student delegate to the board, for their service. She congratulated incoming Director Dr Scanlon Daniels (District 7) and incoming Alternate Student Delegate Emily Mahan-Riggs. Dr Sprague announced that Dr Lynette Holman was re-elected director for District 1 and that there would be an election to replace Dr Ramirez (District 6), given his election as vice president. Honored guests at the Business Breakfast included Dr Ted Cohn (AVMA President), Dr Gary Brown (AVMA executive board representative), Dr Paul Sundberg (NPB senior VP of science and technology), and Dr Liz Wagstrom (National Pork Producers council chief veterinarian). The audience heard updates from each respective organization. Approximately 200 people attended the breakfast.

New officers

Dr Ron Brodersen was installed as president, succeeding Dr Michelle Sprague, who is now immediate past president. Dr George Charbonneau has ascended to president-elect. The newly elected vice president is Dr Alejandro “Alex” Ramirez.

Save the date

The 2016 annual meeting is scheduled for February 27 to March 1, 2016, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Photo courtesy statement

Photos are courtesy of Tina Smith.

Thank you, AASV Annual Meeting sponsors!

AASV members attending the annual meeting make a substantial investment in the form of registration fees, travel, lodging, meals, and potential loss of income while away from work. However, the cost of attendance would be even greater – or the quality of the meeting experience reduced – if it were not for the financial support provided by corporate sponsors for refreshments, meals, and social activities, as well as scholarships and travel stipends for veterinary students. The AASV extends its sincere appreciation for the sponsorship of meeting events by the following companies:

•  Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc (AASV Luncheon)

•  CEVA Animal Health (Refreshment Break)

•  Elanco Animal Health (AASV Awards Reception and AASV Foundation Veterinary Student Scholarships)

•  GlobalVetLINK (Internet Kiosk)

•  Harrisvaccines (Refreshment Break)

•  Hog Slat (Refreshment Break)

•  Merck Animal Health (Student Reception and Student Swine Trivia Event)

•  Merial (Refreshment Break)

•  Newport Laboratories (Veterinary Student Travel Stipends, Veterinary Student Poster Scholarships, Refreshment Break)

•  Stuart Products (Praise Breakfast)

•  Zoetis (Welcome Reception, AASV Student Seminar and Student Poster Session, AASV Foundation Top Student Presenter Scholarship)

The AASV is also grateful to the 84 companies and organizations that provided support through their participation in the 2015 Technical Tables exhibit. Thank you all!